Captain Andy Bednarek, left, and office manager Jake Mark aboard the newly rennovated Indian whale watching boat in Redondo Beach King Harbor. Regular whale tours are now back on schedule and the whales are now migrating and being seen often along the coast. Photo by Brad Graverson/The Daily Breeze/SCNG/01-19-17

On the Indian, more seating has been put in, but the boat has less passenger capacity than the Voyager. Regular whale tours are now back on schedule and the whales are now migrating and being seen often along the coast. Photo by Brad Graverson/The Daily Breeze/SCNG/01-19-17

Sound

The gallery will resume inseconds

Captain Andy Bednarek, right, and Jake Mark aboard the newly rennovated Indian whale watching boat in Redondo Beach King Harbor. This boat offers a more comfortable and intimate experience with less crowds, as i holds only 45 passengers. Photo by Brad Graverson/The Daily Breeze/SCNG/01-19-17

After a seven-month hiatus, the captain of Redondo Beach’s beloved Voyager is back spending his days giving families an up-close view of sea life in their own backyard.

But with the 60-year-old vessel still out of commission after sustaining damage last spring, Andy Bednarek is now piloting a 1970s fishing boat converted for whale watching.

With seating for 42 passengers, the Indian doesn’t fit nearly as many spectators as the Voyager’s 128, but the small setting offers something that’s more difficult to find on newer, flashier boats dominating the market.

‘Not a cattle boat’

“A lot of times, it’s hard for all the deckhands and the naturalists to talk to everybody on the 150-person boats, so people have been very happy with the intimacy,” said Jake Mark, office manager at Redondo Beach Sportfishing, which relaunched daily whale-watching trips in December. “We’re not a cattle boat.”

The business spent about one month refurbishing the 60-foot-long, 72-ton vessel and adding seating in time for the Pacific gray whale migration season that runs from December to May.

Each trip, the crew spots an average of six gray whales, Bednarek said, and because of the Redondo Canyon offshore, it’s not uncommon to see fin whales, humpbacks, orcas, Minke whales and dolphins feeding on krill and fish drawn to its nutrients.

Unlike the Voyager, in addition to outside seats, the Indian has interior seating with large windows, offering more comfort and protection from the elements.

Bednarek said the boat nicely fills the shoes of the Voyager, which has been dry-docked in Long Beach since it was damaged in May.

“It’s a different whale-watching boat — it’s not the Voyager, but, in many ways, it’s better,” he said. “It’s much more protected and it’s a smaller crowd, so it’s much more interactive.”

The boat is taller and faster than the Voyager, so spectators get a more expansive view and can cover a wider area. And the daily trips are now longer at three hours.

The Indian has two bathrooms, serves beer, wine, snacks and other refreshments, and offers binocular rentals.

Tickets range from $25 to $35 and a portion of proceeds supports the whale watch-naturalist program run jointly by Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and the American Cetacean Society.

Two naturalists with the program are on board for each tour and the crew coordinates with a network of observers on shore and sea to track whales.

For years, the boat was used as a floating classroom for schoolchildren, said Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a researcher who trains naturalists in the Cabrillo Whalewatch program.

“I’ve always loved the Indian. It’s a real stable boat and it’s great for taking pictures,” she said.

Mothers and calves

Schulman-Janiger, who also leads the American Cetacean Society of Los Angeles’ Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project that counts passing grays at Point Vicente in Rancho Palos Verdes, said many of the whales migrating to Mexico have calves.

“Reliably, this is our biggest week so far for gray whales, it’s way above a typical week we’ve had for the last five-plus years,” she said Friday. “We’re also seeing a few fin whales, occasional humpback whales and various species of dolphin, pretty much every day.”

Despite nostalgia for the Voyager, Mark said spectators are embracing the Indian.

For now, Redondo Beach Sportfishing is using the boat strictly for whale watching, but is open to offering private fishing charters and possibly overnight trips since there is room below for 20 passengers to sleep.

Watching the mother gray whales and calves every day is a wonder, Mark said.

“The coloration is completely different,” he said. “They don’t have the barnacles, and the moms have to teach them how to breathe, so they push them up to the surface. It’s really neat to see.”

“Every day is unique and every day is beautiful,” Bednarek added. “It’s life-changing.”

Megan Barnes covers crime and public safety for the Press-Telegram. She was previously a city reporter at the Daily Breeze, where she covered the South Bay beach cities and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Before that, she was a freelancer writing about LGBT news and her hometown of San Pedro, where she probably made your latte at Starbucks. She loves iced Americanos and Radiohead and finally got to see them live on the A Moon Shaped Pool tour. It was magical.